EDUCATION

Department Profile

Mission Statement

The Dordt College teacher education program prepares students for service in diverse settings, equipping them with God-centered reflective and transformative skills, knowledge, and dispositions for teaching, learning, and leading.

Program Strengths

Strong professional and personal relationships between professors and students

Faculty who have more than 200 years of combined experience in every grade and subject level from PK – 12

A teacher education program that combines theory and practice; students receive 80-100 hours of classroom experience prior to their student teaching semester

Learning Objectives

Dordt education students

understand the central concepts, tools of inquiry, structure of the subject areas taught, and principles that guide the learning process

understand how students learn and develop; and provide learning opportunities that support the students’s development

demonstrate an understanding of how students differ and are able to meet students’s learning needs

understand curriculum construction and instructional strategies

understand the nature of assessment and uses formal and informal assessment strategies appropriately

shape a positive and purposeful learning environment that promotes active engagement in learning and self-motivation

use a variety of verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster purposeful learning and positive community climate in the classroom

articulate and demonstrate an understanding of educational philosophy, the history of education, and current educational trends and issues